


Inappropriate Behavior

by WinchesterWarrenSon



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Crush, M/M, No Romance, One-Sided Attraction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-05 02:40:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4162560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinchesterWarrenSon/pseuds/WinchesterWarrenSon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Gohan meets Future Trunks, he develops his first ever crush, and he's crushing pretty hard. Future Trunks only has his own past experiences with having a crush to tell him what he should do about it. He may have crushed equally hard on his timeline's Gohan, but he most certainly does not feel the same way about the nine-year-old one. Will Trunks figure out how to let Gohan down easy? Or are things going to get complicated and humiliating?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ba-Bum Ba-Bum

Gohan and Krillin were the last ones to join the group, though they were no less anxious and worried. 

"Are we sure it's Frieza?" Gohan asked, just wanting to be sure. He could feel his little body trembling slightly all over, but he told himself to get a grip. He had to keep it together. He had to be able to protect the others. 

"What're we gonna do!? We're all gonna die!" Yamcha said, panicking. 

That . . . was not helping, but it told Gohan that he needed to be brave for the others, too. He needed to keep himself together.... 

Vegeta insisted on being in charge and come up with the plan, and Gohan saw no glaring flaws it in at first, but between Krillin and Tenshinhan, there was plenty of bickering among the adults about what they should do. 

No progress towards Frieza was made, and another third power level joined Frieza's and Frieza's father, and that caused even more bickering about whether or not it was Goku and if they should go help or if it was another enemy and that they should stay in place. Yamcha's anxious ramblings were white noise in Gohan's ears. 

Then the flare of power spiked, and Gohan knew. 

That _had_ to be his dad! 

"It's Dad! I know it is!" Gohan shouted, speeding off like a bullet before anyone could stop him. 

"GOHAN NO! WAIT!" Krillin yelled, flying after him only to get grabbed by Vegeta and criticized for the action. The words Krillin used to berate Vegeta for letting Gohan go off on his own were not words Gohan would ever be allowed to repeat. 

Gohan had to hang back and duck for cover at a couple moments due to the energy blasts Frieza and Dad were throwing at each other, but Gohan eventually reached the battleground in time to see King Cold get destroyed. 

He couldn't see the figure too well from where he was at first, but he flew quickly towards the figure as he landed back on the ground. 

"DADDY!" 

The figure turned around, and Gohan was much closer now, and Gohan stopped abruptly, barely two feet away from the man. 

This . . . wasn't his father. 

The man dropped the Super Saiyan form and was staring at him, shocked, with blue eyes. Golden hair faded to lavender and fell around his face. They both stared at each other in silence for a few moments. In the background, they could both hear the others approaching. 

"I . . . I'm sorry, I . . . I thought you were. . . ." 

"N-no, it's fine. I know . . . I know who you thought I was. I'm sorry to disappoint.... Hey, don't cry." 

The man walked closer to him, knelt down on one knee, and put a hand on Gohan's shoulder. Like he knew him well. 

Gohan didn't realize he was tearing up until the man said something about it. But realizing he was just made him start to cry more. 

Darn it, he told himself he wouldn't cry anymore....! 

"It's gonna be okay, your dad's actually gonna be here really soon. Like, in two hours." 

"He - he is?" 

"Yeah," the man said, smiling at Gohan. 

Gohan wiped at his face. 

"H-how do you know?" 

"I have my ways. I'd tell you how, but I'm . . . kind of not allowed to. But he'll be arriving here shortly, just a ways that way," the man said, pointing in another direction. 

Gohan sniffed and felt like he had successfully wiped all the tears away. 

"HEY!" came Krillin's voice. Gohan jumped a little at how Krillin managed to make his voice _boom_ in a way rather uncharacteristic of him. "Get away from him!" 

The man quickly stood back up and took a few steps away from Gohan as the others flew down. Krillin put a hand on Gohan's shoulder and pulled him closer to their group. 

"Are you all right?" Piccolo asked, landing behind him and Krillin. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," Gohan said. "He says Dad's gonna be here soon!" 

There was some ribble-rabble about whether or not he was telling the truth and if they should follow the stranger to where he said Goku was going to be, and eventually they agreed to go to the spot. The stranger decapsulated a mini-fridge full of soda and alcohol (Gohan got a soda). 

Krillin kept his arms crossed the whole time, frowning and looking generally unhappy, which was odd for him when immediate danger wasn't present. And even then.... 

Gohan, however, was more concerned with learning more about the stranger. 

"How do you know Dad's gonna be here? Did you meet him?" 

"Ah, no, I haven't met him. I've just heard about him." 

"So how do you know he's gonna be here?" 

"Ah.... Y'know, gossip here and there. Mathematical equations. Stuff like that...." 

"What kind of mathematical equations?" 

"Uhhh, well...." 

The man then found a stick and went over what they were. Gohan's eyes widened as he recognized some of the math from his physics book, but he didn't really understand what that had to do with his dad coming home. He'd have thought geometry might've been used or trigonometry. He wished he had a notebook so he could jot them down and look them up later, but he did his best to commit them to memory. 

Bulma talked with the man, too, but Krillin and the others kept their distance, looking at him distrustfully. 

"Does he really know that Goku's gonna be here, or is he pulling our leg?" Yamcha asked, now feeling much less afraid. 

"Should we really be trusting him?" Tenshinhan asked. 

"I dunno about Goku or anything else, but I'm _definitely_ not trusting him with Gohan," Krillin said. "Who the hell gets that up close and personal with a kid they just met?" 

"Is . . . that weird?" Piccolo asked. Vegeta shrugged.

" _Yes_ , it's weird. There's this thing called age-appropriate boundaries and personal space, and it's creepy when people cross the line of it." Krillin said. 

Piccolo thought about that, then nodded. That made sense.... Though now he was silently wondering what all the social rules were. Had he broken any of them? Nail's presence in the back of his head assured him that he hadn't, and soon Nail had imparted that information onto him. He nodded a bit more sagely as it happened.

As time wore on, they waited more silently and keeping themselves occupied somehow. The stranger kept looking over at Vegeta, which was odd. Vegeta didn't appreciate it much. 

But Goku did indeed arrive when the stranger said he would. 

"DADDY!" Gohan shouted, throwing his hands in the air and hurrying to Goku's space ship. 

The stranger flew after the whole group, arriving at the location of the spaceship at the same time as them. 

Goku got reacquainted with the others, then the stranger asked if he could talk to Goku privately for a moment. 

Gohan furrowed his eyebrows, frowning. 

"Why does it have to be in private?" Gohan said, going over to his father and grasping for his hand. 

The stranger gave Gohan a sympathetic smile, then knelt down so that he was more on Gohan's level. This was really the first time anyone had ever done that (though Krillin was . . . naturally on his level, due to his height, but no one had ever gone out of their way to be on his eye level). 

"I know it's hard not to have your dad around and that he just got back. But I can't stay, and I need to talk to him. It won't take long, I promise. And it has to be only Goku who hears what I have to say. Otherwise, I'd be more than happy to just tell all of you now. Is it all right if I talk to him privately for just a few minutes?" 

Gohan thought about it for a minute or two, then let go of Goku. 

"Okay. But just a few minutes!" 

The stranger stood back up and nodded. Then he and Goku flew off a ways to talk. 

The others had no idea what they were talking about, but going Super Saiyan was involved and proved that the stranger definitely was a Saiyan. Even from far away, Gohan could see that the stranger could hold his own against _Dad_ , and he watched in awe. 

Eventually, the two returned to the group, the stranger smiling at Gohan. 

"I told you it'd be just a few minutes," he said. 

Gohan smiled back, then hugged his father. Goku gave him a pat on the head. 

Gohan found he couldn't stop smiling, but as happy as he was to have his father back, his attention was being drawn by the mysterious stranger, even as he hung back from the conversation as Goku caught up with the others. 

When it was time for the stranger to leave, he decapsulated a weird vehicle that lifted up into the air. They waved goodbye, Gohan waving the most, and he just . . . faded from view. 

Gohan and Goku went home to a very shocked Chichi. 

That night, Gohan added a chapter in his journal that he had started when he had gone off to Namek. It had been important to keep a record of his experiences, and Chichi had said something about it being a healthy hobby to write your thoughts down. He focused a lot on talking about the mysterious stranger, what he looked like and how sweet he had been. He hoped he would see him again someday. 

 

Trunks returned to his own timeline, wanting to check up on his mother and give her an update. Also, he wasn't entirely sure how this time travel stuff worked and wanted to see which time travel theory would prevail. 

Multiverse theory prevailed, unfortunately, but perhaps it made more sense that way. 

It had been interesting to see Gohan as a little kid. He had never really thought of his teacher and best friend as being so small, ever. He had always been big and strong and brave. The young Gohan was indeed brave and sweet, and meeting him had certainly dispelled any concerns he had in not being able to tell the two apart. 

No, it would be very easy to not get them confused with one another and see them as entirely different people, especially now that multiverse theory was confirmed. And that gave Trunks some relief. He had been a little concerned that seeing Gohan again after . . . everything that had happened would hurt. While he did feel _a_ connection with the boy due to being familiar with the Gohan in his own timeline, their relationship already felt very different. 

He also felt like he had handled interacting with Gohan well, drawing from his experiences of Gohan interacting with him when he had been a child. He did just as Gohan had done when comforting him and communicating with him when he was younger. He felt good about it. 

He wasn't aware that Krillin was judging him hard for it. 

When the time came, he got back into his time machine and went back in time. 

 

During the three years of training for the androids, Gohan spent a lot of time with his father and Piccolo, training. But when he wasn't training or watching his father and father figure failing their driving test or focusing on math problems, his thoughts wandered to thinking about the mysterious stranger. 

Gohan's literature assignments were becoming more mature in subject matter and focusing on things that children older than him dealt with. Historical fiction, especially. Young girls, ages ten to eleven, dealing with living in a culture where they were expected to be married by sixteen to a young man potentially five or so years older than her who made money, having to be a certain way and have certain manners. Boys a few years older than himself going through puberty and discovering friends as though "for the first time" or whatever the book decided to describe it as. 

And as Gohan read these books, the more self aware Gohan became of what he was feeling. 

He was falling for the mysterious stranger. 

This made Gohan blush and hide his face in the book he was reading, even though no one else was around to see him. 

He wrote about it in his diary and read past entries, understanding what they meant better. 

Despite the imminent danger they were in because of the androids, when Gohan saw the mysterious stranger again, a part of him was very, very happy.


	2. Blushing

Gohan had no idea if he would ever see the Mysterious Stranger again. But he didn't let it distract him from his training, and on the day of, he wasn't thinking about the Mysterious Stranger at all as they fought Androids 19 and 20. He was worried about his father, whether or not he'd survive the heart virus and hoping they had gotten the medicine to him on time. He worried about whether or not they'd actually be able to win against Android 20, even with Vegeta as a Super Saiyan. 

He hadn't expected the Mysterious Stranger to show back up, but when that beautiful lavender-haired man showed up, his heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but smile. 

He was looking serious, staring at Android 20, frowning.

"Trunks!?" Piccolo blurted out, also surprised to see him. 

Gohan and Vegeta both looked over at Piccolo. Trunks? Wasn't that the name of Bulma's son? Why was he calling him Tru- ? 

"Who is that?" the Mysterious Stranger asked, staring at the Android. "That - that can't be Android 17 or 18. Is it?" 

"17 or 18?" Krillin said. 

"That's Android 20," Tenshinhan said. 

The Mysterious Stranger's eyes widened. 

"20!? But - but there _is_ no Android 20! It was just the two!" 

"And we found the two! This one and the other one - 19!" Vegeta called over, still looking a little shaken from his realization of who the Mysterious Stranger was. 

Gohan was trying to process all the information at the same rate as the adults. He was a smart kid, but a lot was happening all at once, and that was going to trip up anybody. He focused on the important part: the androids not being the right androids. 

"Hey, a lot of stuff changed after you left! Goku didn't get the virus when you said he would, either. So the androids look different from before and have different numbers. They attacked the place you said they would at the time you said they would, so these have to be them, right?" Krillin said, looking hopeful. 

The Mysterious Stranger was frowning, and Piccolo was scowling, frustrated with the conflicting information. 

"Hey! Android 20! Is there an Android 17 and 18?" the Mysterious Stranger called down. 

"Pffft! Like he's going to _tell_ you that! Idiot!" Vegeta said. 

"How do you know about Androids 17 and 18!?" Android 20 shouted. 

A vein in Vegeta's forehead twitched.

The Mysterious Stranger's eyes widened and his mouth fell open in fear. 

"There - there are _four androids now_? But - but - !" 

"No matter! We'll kill them all all the same!" Vegeta said. 

Things got . . . confusing after that. 

Bulma flew towards them, and Android 20 blasted the aircraft out of the sky. The Mysterious Stranger rescued Bulma and Baby Trunks, while Yajirobe was sent flying into the rubble. Gohan and Krillin flew over to check on Bulma while Vegeta flew after Android 20. The Mysterious Stranger glared and flew after Vegeta, getting in his way. 

"Why didn't you save them!?" 

"Save who?" 

"Your wife and child!" 

"My wi - ? You mean the woman? She is _not_ my wife. Now get out of the way, you're letting him escape!" 

Vegeta flew around the Mysterious Stranger, and the Mysterious Stranger gritted his teeth and flew after Vegeta. 

"Are you okay, Bulma?" Gohan asked.

"Uh, yeah, I'm all right. Thanks to him." 

Baby Trunks started to fuss, and Bulma comforted him. 

Gohan then turned his head towards Piccolo. 

"Piccolo, you said his name earlier...." 

Piccolo nodded. "The mysterious stranger is Trunks from the future." 

Bulma's eyes widened, as did Gohan's and Krillin's. 

"What? Really? Wow, my baby grows up to be a real cutie! And so strong and brave!" 

Gohan blushed heavily and avoided making eye contact with anyone. That . . . was a little weird. But . . . it wasn't stopping his heart from fluttering when he thought about Future Trunks. He looked at the baby, but immediately recognized that whatever he felt for the one from the future, it was just for Future Trunks and not Baby Trunks. Baby Trunks was just a baby and was cute in a baby way. He wanted to protect the baby and make him laugh, but when he thought of Future Trunks . . . it was very different. 

Gohan focused on what was happening right then when Krillin started talking to him, and Gohan agreed to take Bulma and Yajirobe to a safe place. He agreed and added that he wanted to check up on his father. 

On the . . . _long_ . . . flight(s) first to his house (but without stepping down on the ground to actually be in the home), then to Bulma's, then back to his house, Gohan thought about his dad and whether or not Goku was going to make it, thought about the androids and whether the others were doing all right, and Future Trunks. So much was happening all at once, but his little heart couldn't help but beat a little faster at the idea of spending more time with him. 

He shook his head though, repeatedly, every time his thoughts went in that direction. The world was at stake right now! There wasn't any time for that! 

But it didn't stop his thoughts from going there every time he wasn't actively preoccupied with other things.

Gohan was surprised to see that both Krillin and Future Trunks were already at his house when he arrived. They were in the process of moving Goku to Kame House because the Androids were headed to the Son household. From between his mother's arms as she hugged him fiercely, he spotted Future Trunks standing in the hovercraft and felt a new blush taking over his face. 

The ride to Kame House was full of talking about the androids and time travel/alternate universe theory, then Bulma called the plane and faxed them a picture of the artifact that a farmer had sent to her from the woods. Future Trunks stared at the picture in shock.

"That can't be! It's my time machine! But I have it in its capsule! Just what is going on here?!" 

"Are you sure?" Krillin asked. "Maybe you misplaced it."

"No, I really do have it. It's right here!" 

Future Trunks held up the capsule, showing it to the others. 

"Then we should definitely check it out. Why don't you go see the time machine while we continue on with getting Goku to Kame House?" Yamcha said. 

Future Trunks nodded, standing up to leave through the air hatch. 

"Can I come?" Gohan asked, standing up. "I want to help. And what if there's trouble?"

"Absolutely not, you have to study!" Chichi said. 

"But Mom - !" 

"Well...." Trunks said, but then Krillin spoke up. 

"That's actually a good idea. Really, I don't think any of us should be alone if we can help it." 

"He has a point. We never know where the androids might be, and what if this is somehow connected to them?" Trunks said, warming up to the idea of Gohan going with him. 

Gohan smiled. "I'll be okay, Mom, and I'll study when I get back." 

Chichi frowned, but relented. 

"You be safe and come back soon." 

"I will!" 

With that, Trunks and Gohan flew off in the direction of the time machine after Bulma gave them the coordinates. 

At first they flew in silence, but Gohan looked over at Trunks every now and then, blushing a little bit every time, then putting his eyes back to in front of him, keeping an eye on where he was going. 

Trunks seemed to have noticed. 

"Hey, are you feeling all right? You're awfully red in the face." 

"Ah! N-no, I'm fine! Thanks for asking, though.... Um, I was wondering, though. Did you know me in the future?" 

Trunks smiled at Gohan. 

"I did. You were my mentor and martial arts teacher. You taught me everything I know about fighting and guided me to the level of power I'm at today." 

"Wow, really!?" 

Trunks nodded, his smile widening. "Really." 

"What was I like?" 

"Well . . . ." Trunks looked ahead of him, keeping track of where he was going. (Wouldn't do to fly into a tree while talking, after all.) "You were strong, and kind. And wise. And, uh, Mom kept saying you were a handsome devil." 

Gohan laughed a little, blushing a little more. Trunks was blushing a little as well, remembering when he was thirteen and would've looked up at his timeline's Gohan with starry eyes. 

"You become a great man," Trunks added, his voice sounding like his thoughts were going to a place far away. 

Trunks remembered the strength of the crush he had had on his Gohan, and the pain that came with Gohan's death at the hands of the androids.... He genuinely had no idea if he would ever feel that strongly for another person. Perhaps, if more people have survived the androids, the answer would be yes, he would, but as it was.... But there was no point in dwelling on the matter. Simply due to age, he knew his feelings for his Gohan would never have been reciprocated in the least bit. And it just didn't matter anymore. 

They found the time machine finally, then touched down and examined the machine. Bulma arrived before they had looked at it too closely. 

"So, is it your time machine?" Bulma asked. 

"It looks like mine, but it can't be mine." Trunks said. He pulled out the capsule and opened it, his time machine poofing next to the decrepit one. "Mine's right here. And this one looks like it's been here a long time. So unless it also has the same word you wrote on the side before I left...." 

Trunks walked up to the time machine and scraped the moss off of it. 

"What!?" 

It was the same word, "Hope!!" It was his time machine. 

They examined the clues regarding the damaged time machine, Gohan putting it together that whatever had come in this time machine had left through the hole in the glass and that it had put it there. They found the egg inside and the bug exoskeleton in the grass. Bulma then left immediately upon hearing that the giant bug monster had left its exoskeleton recently, so Trunks and Gohan were left to continue investigating on their own. 

They soon departed to arrive at Kame House. Despite the mystery and the dangers they were currently battling and facing, Gohan had really appreciated spending time alone with Trunks. It made his stomach to little flips, and he was so cute. 

They reached Kame House, just in time to see the news reports about Ginger Town.


	3. Scribble Scribble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating this fic has relied heavily on my ability to rewatch DBZ. The next update will depend on how quickly my rewatch goes.

Future Trunks and Krillin went off to investigate the events at Ginger Town, and Gohan, despite begging his mother to let him go with Trunks to help, had to stay at Master Roshi's. He was worried about his father, of course, but he also didn't want Future Trunks to be in danger and Gohan not be there to help. 

But even Trunks requested that Gohan stay. 

So here he was, alternating between training and pretending to be studying out on the beach so his mother would be happy. But he couldn't stop himself from worrying about Piccolo and Krillin and Future Trunks.... 

Gohan felt another blush coming on at the thought of the older man. 

He sighed heavily. He had it bad. 

What should he do? He certainly couldn't focus on studying like this, and now wasn't a good time to get back up and train. Chichi would be back out at any minute with the beverage and snack she said she was bringing. 

A thought occurred to him as he tapped his pencil on the desk. 

What was the one thing that a lot of his books had in common? A lot of the characters, when interested in another person, would write them letters. Sometimes they sent them to their affections, sometimes they just kept it for themselves. 

It would be like writing in his journal, but would be addressed to Trunks. And then.... 

Gohan smiled a little bit. Then he grabbed pieces of paper and started penning letters. 

It started with just him jotting down his worries about the Androids and whether they were safe. Then about Goku and how he was coming along. 

Then, working until the assumption that he wasn't going to give these to Trunks until he was willing to confess his feelings for him, he jotted down a lot about how he felt about Future Trunks himself as well. 

He wrote about how brave and kind he thought he was. About how cute he was. About how he felt safer with him here, about how he wished he could be there to protect him too. 

After the first few, Gohan got a little more daring, about how he wished they could visit during times of peace, hold hands.... Maybe kiss. 

Gohan's face turned bright red at the thought of a kiss. 

"Here you go, Gohan," Chichi said. 

Gohan jumped in his chair, then put his hand over the words he had written. 

"Thanks, Mom!" Gohan said. 

"You're welcome, sweetie. And look, you've been working so hard! Keep up the good work." 

"I will," Gohan said. 

He watched as she left, making sure she was gone. 

He looked back at his letter for Trunks, then folded them all up and stuffed them into his pocket. 

He got up and started to train more. It would help him get his mind off of things. 

 

Later, Gohan was on the plane with Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Piccolo, and Krillin, then Goku appeared. Goku then took Gohan with him via the Instant Transmission technique, and the next thing Gohan saw was Future Trunks. Gohan stayed quiet as Goku and Trunks talked, a fresh blush on his face. 

Then they went to Kami's Lookout. Though Gohan supposed it was now Mr. Popo's Lookout. They talked about the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, what was inside it, how it would work, and who would go first. Vegeta and Trunks were going to go inside first. 

While they were in the Chamber, Gohan could feel that Piccolo was in danger. But Goku wouldn't let him go to help. 

It tore Gohan up inside. 

As a way to cope, he wrote more letters to Trunks. 

He wasn't sure when or if he would give them to him, but it made him feel better.

As time wore on, not even letter writing helped. Gohan tried to go to Piccolo to help, but Goku wouldn't let him. Then he could sense Tenshinhan getting involved and getting hurt, and it tore him up inside even more. Goku was able to teleport to rescue them, though, and he brought them to the Lookout. 

It wasn't too much later that Trunks and Vegeta emerged from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. 

Gohan's face heated up as Trunks emerged. 

Gohan hadn't thought Trunks could've gotten any more attractive, but long hair and a loose ponytail certainly suited him. Oh gosh.... 

His heartbeat sped up just from staring at him. 

Then Bulma arrived with Baby Trunks, and there was some talk and changing of clothes. The battle suits felt just like the one he had worn on Planet Namek. Possibly even more comfortable. 

Gohan knew he'd be going into the chamber next, and he knew that Trunks and Vegeta were about to go off to fight Cell. 

He had to make a decision about his letters. On the one hand, it was a possibility that Trunks might not survive the encounter, and that would hurt a lot to know. But he also knew that he would be spending a whole day in the chamber and that it would feel like a whole year to him. 

He did not want to wait a whole "year" in order to find out what Trunks felt about the letters. 

So he did not mention them and kept them on his person. 

He took his writing material into the chamber with him. 

Throughout his time in the chamber, when he wasn't training, he was writing. 

"You brought homework in here with you?" Goku asked when he saw Gohan scribbling. 

"Something like that, yeah," Gohan said. 

Goku smiled. "Well, your mom sure is gonna be happy about that. I'm proud of you, Gohan." 

Gohan blushed a little bit, feeling a little guilty. 

"Thanks, Dad," Gohan said anyway, not wanting Goku to become suspicious and want to read what he was writing. 

As Gohan grew older and his body started experiencing some changes, Gohan's letters to Trunks got a bit more detailed about certain subject matters. 

Gohan's affections for Future Trunks remained strong, even throughout what felt like a year, and Gohan made a resolution. 

He would give the letters to Trunks at the soonest, most convenient opportunity after he got out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. 

Especially considering they might die at any moment with this Cell situation. It would be important to do so. 

Gohan felt very strongly about this, and without anyone to talk to about it, Gohan felt it was a great idea.


End file.
